Onsted soccer team nips Hanover-Horton

Saturday

Aug 24, 2013 at 12:30 PM

By David GiffordDaily Telegram Sports Writer

The Onsted Wildcats boys soccer team kicked off its 2013 campaign with 2-1 victory over Hanover-Horton in a crossover Independent Soccer League match. The match did not count toward the league standings as the teams, although in the same league, are in different divisions, with Onsted being in the East division and the Comets in the West. The Wildcats now stand at 1-0, playing division rival Blissfield next Wednesday.

“That was important for us to get off to a good start, and getting the win today was nice,” said Onsted coach Brian Ouellette. “The senior leadership on this team is outstanding with great attitudes, and they expect to come out and win, so it was a great way to begin the season.”

Although the score was close, the game was controlled by the Wildcats for the majority of the match.

Onsted began the match by quickly putting pressure on Hanover goalkeeper Austin McRae. However McRae was sharp, just as he was for the majority of the match and turned away the Wildcats’ Cole Weirich with barely a minute off the clock. That pressure by the Wildcats was a precursor for things to come.

The Comets were able to get a few chances, but it didn’t happen often. Their first scoring chance didn’t come until the 30-minute mark, and that ball sailed over Onsted goalkeeper Zach Wobrock’s head, and continued on over the crossbar.

Not long after the errant shot, Onsted went on the offensive again, and again Weirich was in the middle of it. A cross pass from him, found teammate Levi Page. Page put a good foot on the ball, but McRae was in good position to make the save.

Soon after Onsted’s scoring chance, Hanover Horton had their best opportunity of the first half to score a goal. The ball bounced around off numerous legs and feet from both teams before finding the Comets just outside the goalie box. With three successive chances, Wobrock stood tall, and turned all three opportunities away, finally corralling the last shot, putting an end to the pressure.

For the remaining 10 minutes of the first half, the Wildcats brought the match to the Comets’ side of the field. That pressure finally paid off near the end of the half when Onsted’s Tanner Rohrbach scored the first goal of the match and season for the Wildcats when he tracked down a loose ball, and booted his unassisted goal into the Comet net at 1:26.

“That goal was important because we had put pressure on them the first half, and the pressure was starting to mount on us to get one in the net,” said Ouellette. “It gave our team a lift, because we were doing a lot of things right like getting the ball into the middle and getting more guys in front of the net, so that was great to see our hard work pay off.”

The second half saw Onsted subbing more, getting some fresh legs in. The Wildcats have quite a mix of age groups and although their core base is a group of seniors, there are quite a few underclassmen that play, including a few freshmen, but team congruity remains strong.

“Our seniors welcomed all 10 freshmen from day one,” said Ouellette. “There has been no animosity on the team, they all have the same goal to win, and that’s a credit to our seniors.”

The second half was similar to the first as the field seemed tilted towards the Hanover goal. The Wildcats. However, Onsted broke through with another goal, just a bit quicker this half.

At 13:44, Weirich controlled the ball with some nifty footwork before putting a shot on goal. The Comets made the save but the ball came back out to Page who was able to slip it by McRae and into the net, giving the Wildcats a 2-0 advantage.

With Onsted controlling play most of the match the two goal lead seemed safe. However with just over seven minutes left in the match, the Comets Ethan Manarin booted the ball from half way between the goal and the sideline in what appeared to be an attempt to get the ball in the middle of the field. The ball sailed towards Onsted’s goal, and just kept sailing. Much like a centerfielder in baseball freezes on a line drive hit directly at him, Wobrock was caught off guard that ball kept its loft for as long as it did. Caught flat-footed, Wobrock could only raise his hands in attempt to knock it down, but it went just over his fingertips and landed in the net, quickly creating a one goal game again.

“That was a bad goal, and Zach knew it,” said Ouellette. “But he admitted that it caught him off guard, however it didn’t seem to phase our team and they kept their composure.”

The Wildcats were up to the task, and as Ouellette put more emphasis on the defensive side of the field, the Comets were not able to mount much pressure as the clock ran out.

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